DESCRIPTION: Funds are requested to provide partial support for the Biological Sciences component of the 1998 Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). This conference, entitled "Biology of Aging: Methods, Mechanisms, and Interventions" will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel, PA, from November 21-23, 1998, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the GSA. Dr. James Nelson, Chair-Elect of the Biological Sciences Section of the GSA, will organize the conference. The goals of the meeting are to present state-of-the-art scientific seminars in many of the critical areas of experimental gerontology, and to attract and promote interactions among researchers, GSA members and nonmembers who work on laboratory studies of the biology of aging. The Conference will feature invited symposia on the following topics: (1) Transgenic Approaches to Aging Research: Potentials and Pitfalls; (2) Non-Linear Approaches to Biogerontology: Can Biologists Meet the Challenge?; (3) The Potential Role of DNA Polymorphisms in Human Longevity; (4) Recent Developments in the Genetics of Replicative Senescence; (5) Identification and Characterization of Longevity Assurance Genes; (6) The Search for Genes that Modulate Aging in Drosophila; (7) Dietary Restriction, Signal Transduction, and the Genetics of Aging: Convergence of Paradigms; (8) Leptin, Obesity and Aging: An Important Nexus?